“Regional and state by state initiatives are problematic,” said John Disharoon, Director of Sustainable Development at Caterpillar, in a recent interview for Green Power Conferences. “The US needs a federal policy that works in concert with international frameworks to address climate issues. It is a global issue that requires a global response.”

Disharoon also said that the ideal scenario for federal action on climate change would be a program that uses market forces to drive reasonable policies to reduce the impact of climate change. “This means leveraging commercially available technologies to enact meaningful reduction targets on GHG emissions. It will require a focus on RD&D to bring mass scale carbon capture and storage programs to life and will recognize that the U.S. is one of many nations that must do this to make any real difference in the world.”

Cat was one of the original members of USCAP, a group of 10 companies and four environmental groups that have called on the federal government to enact strong legislation to regulate greenhouse gases.